So how is Maudie?”
“Maudie is fine. I’m mad as hell. I swear, Werner, if I was there right now, I’d knock your teeth out.”
“C’mon, Dolan, in your condition you couldn’t whip a flea, and you know it. Of course, you’re welcome to try, but if I were you I’d wait until I recovered.”
“Funny. Real funny. Did you really think I’d go along with this? I refused to see a shrink at the hospital, so you figured you’d maroon me in the boonies with one. Maude Ann Edwards, for Pete’s sake! I steered clear of the woman when she worked for the department. Why the devil would I want to spend time with her now? Radio Hank right away and tell him to turn around and come get me. I’m outta here.”
“No way, Dolan. We have a deal and you’re sticking to it. Look, don’t go jumping to conclusions. Maudie doesn’t take patients anymore. But she is a doctor. I figured if you needed medical attention, she would be handy to have around. That’s all. She’s too busy with her kids to bother with the likes of you, boyo, so just relax, will ya?”
“Forget it. I’m not staying here with that woman and all those kids. You got that? Send Hank back for me. Now.”
“No can do, buddy. Tell Maudie hi for me and call me at the end of the summer. We’ll talk then about you coming back for that physical.”
“Wait a minute! Don’t you—”
A click sounded and the dial tone droned. Matt jerked the receiver away from his ear and glared at it, then slammed the instrument down so hard it jumped off the base and he had to hang it up again.
With a frustrated growl he flung himself back on the bed and turned the air blue with curses. He didn’t give a rat’s nose if Dr. Maude Ann Edwards heard him. In fact, he hoped she did. Maybe she’d give him the boot.
“The children will be down in a minute,” Maude Ann announced as she returned to the kitchen. “I left Yolanda supervising their hand-washing.”
“Humph, somebody has to,” Jane said. That scamp Dennis acts like soap and water are poison. So does Tyrone.”
Maude Ann’s throaty laugh rolled out. “I know. Dennis just tried to convince me his hands weren’t dirty because he’d kept them in his pockets all day.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “What those two don’t think of the devil hasn’t invented yet.” Standing in front of the big, six-burner commercial stove, she stirred a pot of gravy. “If that policeman fella is going to join us for dinner he’d better shake a leg, ’cause it’s almost ready.”
Maude Ann removed an enormous pan of biscuits from the oven. Steam rose from them filling the kitchen with a delicious aroma. She glanced at the door that connected Matt’s room to the kitchen. “He hasn’t so much as stuck his head out of there, has he?”
“Nope. I got back three hours ago and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the man. Haven’t heard a sound outta him, either. You sure he’s in there? Maybe he decided to walk up to the highway and hitch a ride back to Houston.”
“Not likely. In his condition he wouldn’t make it a hundred yards.” Maude Ann chewed on her lower lip. “I suppose I should knock on his door and let him know it’s dinnertime.”
“Humph,” Jane poured the gravy into a gravy boat and set it on the table with a decisive thud. “I’d let him stew in his own juice, if it was me. Never could abide a foul-tempered man.”
“Detective Dolan isn’t foul-tempered, exactly. He’s just…well, intense is the word, I guess.” Maude Ann pulled two crocks of butter from the refrigerator and placed one at each end of the table. Unable to resist, she picked off a chunk of hot biscuit and popped it into her mouth, and immediately closed her eyes in ecstasy. “Mmm, heaven. Jane, you really are going to have to teach me how to make biscuits like these.”
“I’m willing. The problem is you never have a spare minute.”
Maude Ann sighed. “True.” She glanced at the closed bedroom door again and resigned herself. “Well, I guess I’ll have to call him. I can’t let him skip dinner. In his condition he needs all the nourishment he can get.”
“Suit yourself. While you roust him out, I’m going to go see what’s keeping those young’uns. It’s too quiet up there by far.”
Jane marched out of the kitchen with a militant step and headed for the stairs.
Wiping her hands on the towel slung over her shoulder, Maude Ann went to the door and tapped on it lightly. “Detective? Dinner is ready.”
She waited a few seconds, but there was only silence on the other side of the door. “Detective Dolan?” she called again.
She hesitated, then turned the knob, eased the door open and stuck her head inside. “Detective Dolan, are you in here?”
The sun had almost set and the light coming through the windows was rosy and dim. At first Maude Ann thought the room was empty, but as she crept inside she saw him through the gloaming, lying back motionless across the bed, his arms flung over his head.
Her heart leapt with fear and guilt. Dear Lord, was he dead? If so, it was her fault. How could she have let him stay in here by himself for so long without bothering to check on him? The man had just gotten out of the hospital a few hours ago.
Holding her breath, she moved closer to the bed. When she finally stood over him and spotted the steady rise and fall of his chest, she closed her eyes. Thank God. He had only fallen asleep.
She opened her eyes and stepped even closer, intending to nudge him, but she hesitated. Tipping her head to one side, she took shameless advantage of his unguarded state to study him.
As her gaze ran over his face, her own softened and her tender heart contracted. He looked so exhausted, so pale. So defenseless. How sad it was, she thought, for this proud, strong man to be reduced to a state of near helplessness.
He had incredibly long eyelashes for a man, she noticed for the first time. They lay like feathery black fans against his skin. Beneath their sweep, bruiselike shadows formed dark circles under his eyes.
Her eyes trailed down his body and her concern deepened. Though a big man, Matt had always kept himself trim, but now he looked much too thin.
Never in a million years would she have thought to see Matt Dolan brought down to such a state. How very close he’d come to losing his life, Maude Ann thought. As her darling Tom had two years ago.
Through Matt’s light blue shirt she could see the faint outline of a bandage on his right side and the bulge of another one beneath the denim covering his right thigh.
They were sure to need changing regularly, yet she knew that any offer to help him would meet with a curt refusal.
Suddenly Maude Ann realized that Matt must have fallen into a deep sleep, no doubt involuntarily, soon after making his telephone call. His sneakered feet were still flat on the floor and around his body the cream-colored chenille bedspread was undisturbed.
Compassion softened her face. Poor man. The trip from Houston must have exhausted him. Apparently he hadn’t moved so much as a muscle in more than three hours.
She
